When we create a real estate Website, or purchase one, all too often we may limit our Web content and exposure by not having the right materials or links that may be of interest to our Web viewers. A common mistake of most agent and company websites is that they extol service and product, but offer little of anything else for the viewer.

Why? Since we’re the professionals, our website should be about us, and our image as the knowledgeable and successful real estate professional or company. Isn’t this the traditional marketing approach we’ve always taken? However, if we apply that strategy to the Internet, it is a major mistake.

In the early days of real estate Websites, this type of Internet marketing may have sufficed. Today, real estate has evolved rapidly away from this notion of brochure sites to information resource centers where the consumer can find answers for all their needs and wants. Today’s successful Websites are service-oriented. A Website should not be ego-ware brochures that extol: agent experience, a real estate company with the most closed sales, or lifetime member awards of the Zillion Dollar Club. So now more than ever, it is imperative to meet and satisfy the needs of the consumer. Agent profiles, inclusion of free calculators, a smattering of IDX listings, and a request for more information may not rock the boat of the viewer. It may even lead them to look for information they deem important on another website.

Today’s Internet buyers/sellers today are adept at finding all the answers to their questions quickly, and anonymously. Since our real estate industry is currently in transition… moving from traditional marketing where we controlled the data, to an Internet market with data readily available online, it is now the consumer driving our business. We must concede this point. Unlike our magazine and classified marketing in the past, Web viewers measure our performance and content quite differently. In a sea of endless free information available on the Internet, traditional real estate marketing is now a major handicap.

When we restrict our website content (to what we deem important), as a direct result we also limit Web viewers, and closed sales. Expanded web content is important in meeting and satisfying varied consumer’s needs. It is vital we have more local information on our websites than your competition! Why? If the consumer is satisfied, they will want to return for more information, and perhaps you will assist them in a real estate transaction. So, what must we do to make our sites more content rich, and sales productive? The answer is simple. We must think in terms of being the Internet consumer, and fulfill those needs. So where should we start?

First, we must retreat from the notion that web viewers are looking for just homes, calculators, and your resume. It is not about “You” it’s about “Them!” It is more important to create a Website that places the viewer's needs first, but how can we accomplish this? We must force ourselves to think outside the box. To meet consumer’s needs, we must visualize our Websites as if we were relocating, buying or selling a home.

So go to your Website, and place yourself in the consumer’s shoes. What information would you be looking for? Can you find what you are looking for easily on your Website? If not, a great place to start building your base of ideas is from your past experience in sales. What have buyers or sellers requested from you in the past? What were their needs? Look for the trends. Then ask, “Is it on my site?”

Here’s an example from our own business. Since we work in the suburban Atlanta market, over the years we noted a large portion of our business is from relocation. A primary concern with many transferees moving to our area was schools, and we catered to assisting them in their search. So what were the consumers looking for? Homes? No, they first looked for: School information, SAT scores, test scores, private schools, student teacher ratios, and the best school districts. Education and schooling was a major objection that had to be satisfied. As a matter of fact, many relocation searches started with education. How do we know? It’s simple, we asked our Internet buyers, and they told us!

So whether you build your own site, have a custom Website created for you, or have purchased a template site you need to enhance and enrich your site’s content with categorized links. This is a major step in raising the productivity of your website. It is not a difficult task, and is accomplished by doing some web research. Begin by searching the web for information, and saving the quality links in a browser folder, or copy and paste in a word document for later use. Do not rush, this isn’t a race, it’s about quality. Set the saved links aside for a few weeks, and then go back revisit, review, and discard any non-quality links that aren’t working or are slow loading. Then categorize the links: sports, education, arts, recreation, history, local links etc… When you are fully satisfied, post the changes to your website yourself, or give them to your Webmaster for inclusion. Always avoid any sites with links to other agent sites. Here are a few suggested link categories to include in your real estate website:

• Education: Schools, public, private, pre-k, specialized, colleges, school scores.
• Sports: Pro sports (Baseball, football, soccer, hockey…), amateur associations, little leagues.
• Golf: Local courses public and private, news, tee times, fees, and general golf information.
• Recreation and Arts: Museums, Arts, theme parks, theatres, plays, operas, culture, symphonies, historic sites, and associations.
• Dining: Restaurants guides, local dining, fast foods, fine dining, and reviews.
• Local Informative Links: Local and state government, neighborhood information, local home sale statistics, driver license info, traffic, live traffic cams, weather, school links, city Websites, tax info, historical links, transportation, hotels, map links, and any link that enhances your local market area.

Published: July 30, 2002

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Jim Crawford, ABR, e-PRO 500 is currently licensed as a Broker Associate with RE/MAX Paramount Properties in Atlanta Georgia, and as a Broker Associate with Prudential PenFed Realty Fairfax Virginia. Jim and his wife Ellen work as a husband and wife team in the northern Atlanta suburbs, and have recently expanded their web business to Northern Virginia and Maryland. As the team's rainmaker, Jim is a self-taught webmaster and designer, and he relies exclusively on the Internet for marketing. He is considered an expert on marketing, nationwide relocation, cutting edge technology, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for real estate, and Internet marketing. Jim's seminars, online contributions, and technology ideas assist real estate agents to maximize their business results, and raise the industry's professional service level skills. His common sense marketing ideas have been published and quoted regularly in trade publications. He has also consulted and advised NAR offices regarding Internet issues, and Internet ethics for Realtors. In between sales, Jim is a popular speaker at national and regional real estate seminars, REBAR Camps, Blogging seminars and retreats. Jim is a major proponent and advocate of online ethics and the development of social media policies. He is also an online real estate coach, with a self-tutorial coaching site for real estate professionals for webs and Blogging. Jim was a featured speaker at the November 2004 National Association of REALTORS® convention in Orlando, and has spoken at the several REALTORS® conventions both in the United States and Canada. Visit his website at RealEstateTechCoach.com, or e-mail him at .